Wednesday, February 25, 2009

President’s Blog - Clinical Services Plan (CSP)

By Rik Ganderton - President and CEO, RVHS

Tuesday, the Board of Directors of Rouge Valley Health System received information on the Hospital Clinical Services Plan. The information was presented by Central East Local Health Integration Network (CE LHIN) Board Chair Foster Loucks and CSP Project Manager Susan Plewes.

The full plan was released on February 17th when it was presented to the CE LHIN Board of Directors.

The plan represents the first phase and the initial steps towards "One Acute Care Network" which is defined as;

Improved and equitable patient access to an integrated hospital system that provides the highest quality of care across the Central East LHIN.

The plan covers five program areas (Cardiac, Mental Health, Maternal Child Youth, Thoracic Surgery and Vascular Surgery) as well as recommendations relating to Physician credentialing, Regional On Call coverage and central scheduling for operating rooms.

Our board fully supports the vision of "One acute Care Network" and sees the value in the direction of the recommendations contained in the CSP. We look forward to working in partnership with the LHIN and other health care providers throughout the central east area as the CSP is communicated, by the LHIN, to its partners during the next several weeks.

The Clinical Services Plan includes (amongst other things) a recommendation to make Rouge Valley the regional centre for cardiac care in Scarborough and Durham, which is both an affirmation of our existing role and confirmation of one of the hospital's strategic directions set more than 18 months ago.

The Central East LHIN presentation to our hospital board was the first of several presentations to health care providers in the Central East area, stretching from Haliburton to Peterborough, through Durham and into Scarborough.

We are examining the plan in greater detail and we are now going to consult with our internal stakeholders to understand their perspectives as part of the CE LHIN's requested feedback process.

Further details on the plan have been presented at recent Town Halls, joint Board, MAC and Management meetings and will be shared with the Leadership Forum and the Medical Staff Society during the next few weeks. Summary detail is available on the RVHS Intranet and the full report is available on the LHIN website.